WordPress 3.8 post roundup

WordPress version 3.8 released Thursday December 12th at 9:35am PST and with it a series of articles written by yours truly went live all across the web. For the release we (lynda.com) teamed up with a series of WordPress related blogs to get information out to a wide as audience as possible on what’s new in the update and why you should update right now. To avoid repetition each of the articles is unique and covers a different topic. I also jumped into the booth and recorded a First Look video showcasing the updates. That’s the video you see at the top of the article.

Here’s a roundup of the articles. Jump through the links to read the full texts:

This week’s release of WordPress 3.8 named “Parker” after jazz legend Charlie Parker shows that the platform (and its developers) take this responsibility seriously and aim to further simplify web publishing for everyone. You can download it right now from WordPress.org or upgrade your existing WordPress site directly from the dashboard.

Alongside the rest of the WordPress admin UI, the theme experience – or wardrobe if you like – has undergone a complete overhaul in the 3.8 release of WordPress, and the new design and functionality makes theme management and customization easier than ever before.

Today’s release of WordPress 3.8 is revolutionary in the history of WordPress—and a clear sign of things to come from the popular content management system. Sporting a clean new interface, tons of new features, and a new development philosophy, the 3.8 release is a milestone for the WordPress community in many ways. We’re already hard at work updating our WordPress Essential Training course to reflect WordPress 3.8, but there’s a lot to notice in today’s release beyond just what ships in the code.

What do you think?

Now it’s your turn. Have you updated to WordPress 3.8 yet? If so, what do you think of the new admin UI? And if you haven’t, what is standing in your way? I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the new Twenty Fourteen theme. Will you be using it? What do you think of a magazine style theme as a default theme? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

About Morten Rand-Hendriksen

Morten Rand-Hendriksen is a staff author at lynda.com specializing in WordPress and web design and development and an instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. He is a popular speaker and educator on all things design, web standards and open source. As the owner and Web Head at Pink & Yellow Media, a boutique style digital media company in Burnaby, BC, Canada, he has created WordPress-based web solutions for multi-national companies, political parties, banks, and small businesses and bloggers alike. He also contributes to the local WordPress community by organizing Meetups and WordCamps.

mor10.com

What used to be Design is Philosophy is now simply mor10.com. Tutorials, ideas and information about web design and digital media by lynda.com author, educator and web developer Morten Rand-Hendriksen, a.k.a Mor10.